Those of us who are not bleeding heart, emotional hippies are used to being called names: selfish, mean-spirited, angry, malicious, greedy, and sometimes even, Jon Caldara. So it comes as no surprise that the Denver Classroom Teachers Association (DCTA) president called us “sinister” in this letter to his members.

Dear DCTA member,

BEWARE: You may have gotten a letter from the Independence Institute explaining how you can drop you Every Member Option (EMO) contribution to DCTA/CEA.

It reads like a public service telling you how to save money. But the motives behind the message are much more sinister.

The Independence Institute and the independent teacher organizations they support have a history of backing anti- public education and anti-union causes. They support vouchers and right to work, and just about any other initiative or candidate for office that promises to limit the growth of public education in Colorado. They correctly see DCTA/CEA as the strongest stumbling block to their cause so they want to limit our ability to be involved in school board races and the political process in general.

Turns out, neither the DCTA nor the CEA would like teachers to know about the “Every Member Option” (EMO). The EMO is a refund of the political money that organizations like the CEA and DCTA give back upon teacher’s requests.

Of course, these overly political teacher’s organizations do not want you to know you can get this refund. And surprisingly enough, simply telling teachers they can receive some of their own money back is “sinister.”

Well, I’m sorry unions. I’m a sinister kind of guy. Therefore, I am going to provide some resources to the teachers of Colorado, so that they might learn how to obtain the EMO refund, which can be up to $63.